Back To Basics 101

A Facebook post by an American friend got me really concerned the other day. It was one of those “Who remembers” posts.

Here is the post:

I live in Denmark, one of the Happiest Countries in the world and the greenest when it comes to environmental issues. Sustainability, biodynamic and hygge means the world to us. We bike, we walk, we swim in the ocean, we make sure we get nature time every day. Our kids go to school every day with a packed lunch – a homemade decent lunch. We do too. Going out for lunch during a work day is something you see in the movies. Instead, we join our fellow coworkers and we eat our homemade lunch, we prepared and packed the very same morning and enjoy a social get together and a good half an hour chat and then we go home early. When we go on tours or outings, even if we go to a museum most people especially families eat their homemade packed lunch together. There is also always a place for those who bring their own lunches. A little cozy corner or a table and benches in the outside areas. In the bigger cities such as Copenhagen, there are of course fast food restaurants, but in the smaller cities you might have a pizzeria and if advanced perhaps a kebab place. That is hardly a fast food, at least a very healthy fast food then. Our lunch is healthy, usually one or two slices of rye bread, we might decorate it with last night meal, lets say you had meatballs, you would neatly slice them and put on top of a lettuce and that lovely rye bread on top of that you might put an egg or herbs like dill or parsley. If you don’t have the leftovers from the day before, a can of tuna will do the suffice.

A typical Danish Lunch with a love note from the one who prepared it.

For many people, this might seem like such a boring lunch, but I tell you, it is healthy and it sticks with you and balances your blood sugar the rest of the day. And, we drink water, not soda with the meal. Pronto!

So back to my friends FB post. I started thinking, why is this photo something you should reminisce about? When did eating packed lunch become a retro thing, a vintage memory?

No wonder we are suffering from social isolation, loneliness, and general unhappiness. This is not a cultural difference – This is bad behavior constructed by industrial giants who wants us to be programmed consumers.

Packing lunch is so easy and you know exactly what you are eating. You prepare your food from the scratch, it is cheaper and you enjoy it in the company of other fellow human beings. And even if you eat it alone, it can be such a pleasurable experience. I do also dare to say that it increases happiness!

A very ordinary Danish Summer outing

Many workplaces have Kantinas where they serve healthy and nutritious food and that is fair enough, but when you are on outings, alone or with family and friends I encourage you to pack lunch and make a beautiful picnic basket. It will put a whole other dimension to your togetherness and experience.